Why organizations need to backup their Microsoft 365 data

by Touchdata Inc. (https://www.touchdata.ai)

When we inquire with customers about their remote cloud backup, we often receive responses like, "Yes, we have OneDrive" or "Microsoft takes care of it all." However, it is important to address the common misconception that Microsoft fully backs up your data on your behalf. While Microsoft does provide valuable services and infrastructure management for Microsoft 365, their primary focus is on ensuring the functionality and uptime of their systems.

One aspect that is often misunderstood is Microsoft 365's geo redundancy, which is mistaken for backup. Geo redundancy is designed to protect against data centre or hardware failures, ensuring that users can continue working even during infrastructure crashes or outages, without being aware of the underlying issues.

There are several crucial reasons why backing up Microsoft 365 is critical:

Unintentional Deletion: Human errors are inevitable, and important data can be accidentally deleted. While OneDrive can help recover some data within its 90-day retention period, if the deleted data is not discovered within that timeframe, it will be permanently lost. Additionally, deleting an employee's account can result in the loss of their OneDrive for Business account and mailbox data, highlighting the need for a backup solution.

Lack of Clarity and/or Gaps in Data Retention Policies: Microsoft 365 has various data retention policies for different services, making it challenging to keep track of them all. While Microsoft offers features like hard and soft delete, these are primarily designed to address situational data loss, not comprehensive backup. In case of a catastrophic issue, a backup solution allows you to revert to a previous point-in-time and ensures reliable data recovery.

Internal Security Threats: Threats can originate from within organizations, and employees may intentionally or unintentionally pose risks to data security. Monitoring access privileges and differentiating between regular users and terminated employees who may attempt to delete crucial data can be challenging. A backup solution helps mitigate these risks and ensures the availability of data even in such scenarios.

External Security Threats: Malware, viruses, and ransomware pose significant risks to the privacy and security of data. While Microsoft 365 provides some protection, its backup and recovery capabilities may not be sufficient in dealing with severe attacks. Regular backups offer an uncontaminated copy of data for swift recovery in case of an attack.

Legal and Compliance Obligations: Unexpected situations may require retrieving crucial data during legal proceedings. While Microsoft offers features like litigation hold and retention, relying solely on these is not a comprehensive backup solution. A robust backup solution ensures compliance with legal requirements and protects against fines, penalties, and legal disputes.

Hybrid Email Deployments and Migrations to Microsoft 365: Transitioning from on-premises Exchange to Microsoft 365 Exchange Online or maintaining a hybrid deployment can introduce management complexities. An effective backup solution should handle hybrid email deployments seamlessly and provide flexibility in storing data.

Data Architecture of Microsoft Teams: Microsoft Teams has become a central hub for collaboration and communication within Microsoft 365. Protecting data in Teams, as well as its settings, configurations, and membership, requires dedicated backup measures. A comprehensive backup solution ensures the security and recoverability of data across different applications.

By deploying Microsoft 365, you have made a smart business decision. However, it is crucial to find a backup solution that grants you complete access and control over your Microsoft 365 data, mitigating the risks of data loss. If managing and backing up your Microsoft 365 environment seems resource-intensive, consider leveraging Backup-as-a-Service (BaaS) with a Managed Service Provider who can implement a solution quickly and efficiently.

Touchdata Inc.
https://www.touchdata.ai
Canada and Nigeria offices
WhatsApp: +1 647 370 2492

To make their data safe and secure the organizations should backup OneDrive. But there manual and professional method to do so. Both of the methods have their use cases. If you want to backup a small number of files then you can use the manual method and do not need to go for the OneDrive for Business Backup Tool. But what if, when the number of files is multiple to backup? Then, the professional method is the best choice. So find your requirements properly and then choose the right solution for you.